Pics of my BRP Blue Ridge Mountains trip

[9fingers]

Finally getting around to posting some stuff about my fantastic trip thru the mountains of VA and NC. I have done this trip 3 times now, but the first two were on my Royal Enfield Classic 500, which oddly enough, is a great bike for doing the BRP, 45MPH speed limit and all. But I promised Sophia would take her this year. I did trailer her down to Ashville to see my mom last year.....the only way my wife would come with me. She (wisely) chooses to NEVER ride on a bike with me. After having to care for me when I got taken out by a dear 4 years ago she knows better. So, Sophia has visited Mount Mitchell, at around 6,700' the highest mountain in the east, but I have never done a multi day trip with her.
So, this trip always begins with me trailering my bike down to Charlottesville VA, where my friends put me up in their spare apartment on 6 acres of secluded land, and give me great coffee in the morning...a requirement for a contented life! I had decided to stay and extra day to teach my buddy how to shoot and care for guns carefully, and REALLY glad I did as buckets of rain and thunderstorms would have made the planned start near impossible, with the soaking rain and trees down everywhere. My Saturday morning start and entire trip was blessed with perfect weather.
I will attempt to keep these in chronological order but may throw in some pics of last years Mt Mitchell visit on Sophia.
 








I should note that though I started the trip on the Blue Ridge Parkway, I have found that the best roads are OFF the BRP, and there were two closures that forced me off anyway, so I let the Tom Tom Rider 550 do it's thing and we had some fun.

[JJ]

Great photos!!   Thanks for sharing...A really beautiful part of our country...

[9fingers]

The first day I saw temps from 56 to 83 degrees.....it can get chilly up in the mountains......so I wore my electric heated Hotwired liner jacket under my First Gear air jacket and when it got warm I would remove the liner jacket and store it on the netting attached to my drybag. Little tricky packing all my stuff in the 2 13liter side bags and the 40L drybag, especially since I had 2 good bottles of wine in there for Ncdan and his wife. He told me his wife likes "fine red wine" so I did'nt want to leave it to chance that I could find something good along my travels, when I KNEW I had something good already. Anyway, on my way down I ALWAYS stay at the Hotel Floyd, in Floyd, VA, cause it is a super nice place, reasonably priced, huge rooms, great beds, and it is a funky and fun little town. I always like to have restaurants in walking distance from where I stay so I can get in a little exercise and enjoy a beer or glass or wine and not ride afterwards......... I need all my skills. Anyway, my Tom Tom, which I have not entirely mastered, likes to switch off the "Avoid Unpaved Roads" button that I select (unless I am on Rita, my V Strom), when I tell it to find me a windy road, and this was no exception, and it took me to long sections.....many miles.....of gravel roads, and one section of around 12 miles of a paved road no more than 12' wide. Sophia took the gravel in stride, with the stock Dunlop front and the Conti RA3 rear doing a surprisingly good job. And I saw not a person or vehicle for more than 2 hours that first day. Before the Hotel Floyd I found a small town called Buchanon and what looked like a decent lunch spot and what I found was right out of Andy of Mayberry, though I never met any Barney Fyffe characters.



 
Had a nice quick lunch among the locals and clicked the biggest tip button of 20% for the friendly young lady waitress, and when that came out to $2.62 I told her I had wanted to tip her more so gave her another couple of bucks and put a big smile on her face.
Pics of local scenes

[9fingers]

Another one from Wades Gap Road........mind you ..........I had NO IDEA where the hell I was on most of this......just followed the TT blindly.......and it only once got me into trouble. Wandering aimlessly is good for the soul!



Pic of my room at Hotel Floyd....$100 during the week with real food for breakfast included, though my first night, was on a Saturday during Memorial Day Weekend and it was $175...little more than I like to spend but heck, I was on vacation! Pic of my delish coconut shrimp appetizer




[url=https://ibb.co/KyFbnn7]






I stayed at Hotel Floyd on the way down and back up so here are both rooms for those that care.

[9fingers]

My next destination was really Asheville, to see my 92 year old mom, but rather than burden her with an overnight, I stayed about 90 minutes north in the town of Burnsville and a very nice Inn run but a British woman and her more local husband. Even though it is a fairly small town, and off the main road, and was quite safe, they offered to let me keep Sophia in the garage, which was incredibly nice. Since the weather was good and I have front and rear Kryptonite disc locks and a heavy cable and lock, I declined and just parked under the trees. I know professional thieves can bypass my minor safety precautions but this was not an area I feared. Pics of the Inn and the local brewery and pizza place......10 minute walk into town. This was on a Sunday and my internet sleuthing showed that ALL restaurants in town were closed for the day.......so my plans of great BBQ, 1500' from the Inn, were dashed. I did stop for BBQ lunch in Blowing Rock but it was not good......sweet potato fries cooked in lard and STILL soggy and brisket that should have been good but they seemed to have cooked it in lard as well and it was tough and tasteless. My only disappointing meal on the trip. No pics needed for this one. Threw in a pic of my momma.......she will be mortified........bu t I think she looks amazing for 92!

[9fingers]

After visiting mom it was off to see NcDan and his wife, about 4 hours north via the route I chose. I mentioned that the Tom Tom only got me in trouble once. I don't remember where it was but I was on some incredible winding and hilly way back roads and it told me to turn onto a gravel road, which became a gravel path.......then a dirt path with brush overgrowing the sides. I am a skilled dirt rider.....mostly trials, a bit of enduro and motocross back in the day.........but when it got kinda  steep down hill and the trail came to a rocky stream crossing..........i t was tine to turn back! I could have easily done the 15' wide stream, but the possibility of bashing rocks on those lovely fins under my engine......NOT gonna happen! Thankfully it was dry and I had no traction issues making it back up the hill. I apologized to Sophia and promised her more twisty roads (yes, I talk to my bike....). Shortly after this and back onto the farm country roads I crested a hill and seeing how steep it was down the other side of a PAVED ROAD I literally said HOLY SHIT!  Steepest road I have ever seen! And of course as I headed down a dog was racing down his driveway to intercept me so I had to gas it to beat him to the punch. And shortly after that I came around a turn and found a black cow or bull standing across the road. He did move off by the time I got my phone out but he also ran along side me for a bit as I passed him/her/it/they. I did report to the nearest and likely owner of said bovine to warn them that their livestock got out. I took off before she got out the shotgun to chase me away.......a strange northerner on a weird looking motorcycle wearing a space helmet!



I posted a bit about my visit with Ncdan but if you missed it then here is a pic of him grilling veggies on the deck of his river house.....a splendid spot and visit.

[9fingers]

My trip back up to Floyed and Charlottesville were less eventful, though on one moring after coming out of a winding ride through what seemed like a rainforest before the town of Ferrum, I stopped to rescue 5 box turtles that had parked themselves on the road......I do this for snakes too and did rescue one on the way down. This was all in a 3 miles stretch ......I was stopping a lot. One was so small I thought it was a stone but upon further evaluation found its true identity. My last day the temp reached 90 degrees and I made the mistake of riding through Lynchburg, 4 and 5 lane highways and lots of traffic lights. I had to pull over and remove any my air jacket waterproof liner. I eventually saw a sign for Wintergreen Resort and BRP and ignored the Tom Tom (which I had programed for fastest way home)  and hightailed it for the mountains. The temp dropped 9 degrees quickly and I was on mountain roads again. Back in Charlottesville I took my friends wife to Citizen Burger for an awesome burger and killer beer battered onion rings and a good dark brew. And the next day was homeward bound. Hope you enjoyed......I know I did. Sophia was amazing, on road and off, and I did 2 days in a row with 6 hours in the saddle with short breaks and was never really sore. I had installed Knight Designs 1" lowered pegs before the trip, and with my long legs (34" inseam) they made all the difference. I would not want to do long highway miles on her.........but I hopefully will never do that. Now when I do the Adirondacks in the Fall I have an options besides the V Strom. Oh, i posted a pic of a cool bridge I found near Ferrum. I crossed it but found a closed gate on private property.
Scott

[Ncdan]

Great trip review Scott and I appreciate you not posting a live take on my rusty banjo picking 👍

[Dilliw]

Great trip report!  I keep my Griso in Asheville for this very reason (to go see my Mom in SC).  The riding is not too bad either.

The BRP between 276 and Cherokee is a great stretch for Motorcycles.  Its got elevation, turns, and light traffic.

[Tkelly]

A bmw friend and I just returned from my 2nd Italian Adventure Bike Weekend at theMountain View camp ground outside ElkPark NC.We also rode to Mt Mitchell and many other areas with Mark ,the campground owner and switchback racer.I You or anyone else wants to ride those areas check him out,spectacular roads and scenery.

[Iron Cross Junction]

Nice ride report and pix. 

Next time you are near the top of Virginia, stop in and visit the Moto Grappa.

Be careful with that TomTom in the wet stuff.  My Rider 550 was decidedly not waterproof.  In fairness, it was a violent storm I (foolishly) rode through last month. 





Did the rice-bag thing; no joy.

Thus, as an always optimistic slow learner, I just ordered and received a replacement. 

It also has a different definition of unpaved roads than I do as it has sent me on all sorts of nastiness despite my "avoid" setting.   





OTOH, I probably should have known when I entered "Frozen Toe Road" that it wouldn't be fresh blacktop.   

Bill

P.S. I am frequently around nonagenarians; your mom looks great! 

[Chuck in Indiana]

P.S. I am frequently around nonagenarians; your mom looks great! 

Yeah she does. My half sister is 94 now, and beginning to get a few grey hairs.. 

[9fingers]

Great trip review Scott and I appreciate you not posting a live take on my rusty banjo picking 👍

Thanks Dan, and I thoroughly enjoyed you and your wife's playing.
Scott

[twowheeladdict]

 

Looked like my kind of ride.

[Clifton]

Pic of my room at Hotel Floyd....$100 during the week with real food for breakfast included, though my first night, was on a Saturday during Memorial Day Weekend and it was $175...little more than I like to spend but heck, I was on vacation!....

I stayed at Hotel Floyd on the way down and back up so here are both rooms for those that care.

Nice pics, glad you enjoyed the area. You should have joined us at Willville motorcycle campground which is only maybe 20 miles from Floyd at Meadows of Dan. $15 to tent camp with clean showers and lots of hot water. If you don't want to tent, Will also has a few cabins that are maybe $25 per night but I'd suggest calling ahead to reserve one. A friend and I were there Memorial Day weekend and had a great time, there were maybe 20-25 other bikes.

[9fingers]

Nice ride report and pix. 

Next time you are near the top of Virginia, stop in and visit the Moto Grappa.

Be careful with that TomTom in the wet stuff.  My Rider 550 was decidedly not waterproof.  In fairness, it was a violent storm I (foolishly) rode through last month. 




That is a shame about the Tom Tom. I did ride in 3 or 4 hours of downpour last October, up in the Adirondacks, and had no issue with the moisture getting into my TT. But I have mine mounted behind my decent sized windscreen so maybe that protected it.
Scott


Did the rice-bag thing; no joy.

Thus, as an always optimistic slow learner, I just ordered and received a replacement. 

It also has a different definition of unpaved roads than I do as it has sent me on all sorts of nastiness despite my "avoid" setting.   





OTOH, I probably should have known when I entered "Frozen Toe Road" that it wouldn't be fresh blacktop.   

Bill

P.S. I am frequently around nonagenarians; your mom looks great!